Reportage in the age of secondary journalism

Section: Discussion

Contemporary journalism is characterized by a secondary nature, reflecting primarily media reality rather than the immediate reality of the surrounding world. In this regard, it is particularly important to identify the place of reportage in modern media. This genre, while present in all Soviet and post-Soviet genre systems, presupposes observation of events, which is alien to modern media practices. To what extent is reportage still present in the media, and how useful is it to study reportage in publication preparation courses? To answer these questions, a study was conducted to examine the presence of reportage on the websites of the most popular Russian media outlets and identify key characteristics of the texts. It was found that half of the media outlets do not feature reportage, while another third publish it less than once a month. The sample consisted of 100 reportage pieces from 24 media outlets, with no more than five pieces per publication selected. The predominant thematic types of reportage are military and legal. Experimental, investigative and “journalist changing profession” reportage is absent. Political reportage is rare, social reportage extremely rare, critical reportage almost nonexistent, while positive reportage, which idealizes current events, accounts for more than a third. The study concludes that reportage persists in the media, but it is becoming either exotica, the result of the creativity of individual active journalists, or a propaganda tool, while complex variations of the genre have disappeared from modern Russian media.

DOI: 10.55959/msu.vestnik.journ.4.2026.5878

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